Toyota Blade Master G, your Gran's Auris on steroids
Discussion
cheddar said:
Most of them you've seen are (inexplicably) Blades with the 2.4 litre 4 pot 160bhp motor, the 'Blade Master' gets the 3.5 litre V6, same fuel economy as the Blade but with an added 120bhp.
As for what you'd sooner have imported to the UK I understand but I wanted a comfortable, well appointed, reliable sleeper hatch with 6 cylinders and, give or take, 300bhp for around £6k, I don't think there's any other choice.
Sure, there's others, Alfa do the the GTA, Audi with their 3.2 A3 or a Golf R32 packing the same Audi motor but they don't tick all the above boxes for me.
Interesting, didn't know that. That'll explain why most of them seem to be driven by people with no idea how to drive then.As for what you'd sooner have imported to the UK I understand but I wanted a comfortable, well appointed, reliable sleeper hatch with 6 cylinders and, give or take, 300bhp for around £6k, I don't think there's any other choice.
Sure, there's others, Alfa do the the GTA, Audi with their 3.2 A3 or a Golf R32 packing the same Audi motor but they don't tick all the above boxes for me.
And yeah I totally get it, didn't mean to insult your choice in car or anything! It's just not most people's first choice is all I meant (most people seem to import skylines and fast Hondas)
samj2014 said:
Interesting, didn't know that. That'll explain why most of them seem to be driven by people with no idea how to drive then.
And yeah I totally get it, didn't mean to insult your choice in car or anything! It's just not most people's first choice is all I meant (most people seem to import skylines and fast Hondas)
Sweet as Sam, no worries 👍And yeah I totally get it, didn't mean to insult your choice in car or anything! It's just not most people's first choice is all I meant (most people seem to import skylines and fast Hondas)
dme123 said:
If that's accurate then13 seconds to 100 is properly quick. A Jaguar XFR 5.0 is just over 10 seconds.
In any case a 6k Golf GTi will be dog eared, is unlikely to be as well equipped as this, has 70% of the power, is at least one cylinder shy of being an interesting engine, and will be beginning to self destruct in expensive ways in the manner that modern German cars always do at 10 years old.
Oh and it'll also be boring.
The closest European equivalents I can think of would be things like the old 6 cylinder Audi A3 models, maybe a Volvo S40 T5, both in SE spec. Neither of those is going to be as powerful or have anything like the same reliability.
There's also a few BMW 130i's in SE spec aroundIn any case a 6k Golf GTi will be dog eared, is unlikely to be as well equipped as this, has 70% of the power, is at least one cylinder shy of being an interesting engine, and will be beginning to self destruct in expensive ways in the manner that modern German cars always do at 10 years old.
Oh and it'll also be boring.
The closest European equivalents I can think of would be things like the old 6 cylinder Audi A3 models, maybe a Volvo S40 T5, both in SE spec. Neither of those is going to be as powerful or have anything like the same reliability.
Had this for a year now, still can't fault it, 31/32mpg on every tank, zero issues, drives like new.
Only plans are to replace a metal/rubber oil line that's apparently a weak point and have the speed limiter removed.
I'll run it down my local private runway and see what it'll do, I'm guessing around 160
Only plans are to replace a metal/rubber oil line that's apparently a weak point and have the speed limiter removed.
I'll run it down my local private runway and see what it'll do, I'm guessing around 160
cheddar said:
jas xjr said:
If it was similar in feel to a mk3 vr6 , i would be more than happy.
Weren't they notorious for wobbly handling?Where does this 13 seconds to 100mph claim come from? The OP has been posting it all over the place!
I've found loads of road tests of the original 2006 IS350 (+30bhp and RWD over the Auris) hitting approx 100mph in the quarter mile at ~13.8-14.0s.
An Auris ain't doing it in 13, more like 15 at the very best.
I've found loads of road tests of the original 2006 IS350 (+30bhp and RWD over the Auris) hitting approx 100mph in the quarter mile at ~13.8-14.0s.
An Auris ain't doing it in 13, more like 15 at the very best.
Edited by Olivera on Tuesday 23 October 01:14
Edited by Olivera on Tuesday 23 October 01:14
Olivera said:
Where does this 13 seconds to 100mph claim come from? The OP has been posting it all over the place!
I've found loads of road tests of the original 2006 IS350 (+30bhp and RWD over the Auris) hitting just over 100mph in the quarter mile at ~13.8s.
An Auris ain't doing it in 13, more like 15 at the very best.
Fair point Olivera, hard statistics aren't easy to come by, here's a YouTube acceleration clip, barring any speedo error it shows bang on 13 secs to 160kph.I've found loads of road tests of the original 2006 IS350 (+30bhp and RWD over the Auris) hitting just over 100mph in the quarter mile at ~13.8s.
An Auris ain't doing it in 13, more like 15 at the very best.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=INlDKnqlQ-k
Agreed about the IS350's extra 30bhp, it weighs around 200kg more than the Auris though.
Edited by cheddar on Tuesday 23 October 09:21
cheddar said:
jas xjr said:
If it was similar in feel to a mk3 vr6 , i would be more than happy.
Weren't they notorious for wobbly handling?Now you know what trying to steer a MK3 Golf VR6 is like
I test drove one of these and loved the look of surprise on nearby faces when I disappeared down the road. Less fun was when I tried to turn and it really wanted to explore the field beyond the corner apex.
I found my mk3 vr6 easier to muscle around corners but I am sure the Master G is a hoot once you get used to it!
I found my mk3 vr6 easier to muscle around corners but I am sure the Master G is a hoot once you get used to it!
cheddar said:
Had this for a year now, still can't fault it, 31/32mpg on every tank, zero issues, drives like new.
Only plans are to replace a metal/rubber oil line that's apparently a weak point and have the speed limiter removed.
I'll run it down my local private runway and see what it'll do, I'm guessing around 160
May I suggest swapping out the catchpower tyres before this attempt!?Only plans are to replace a metal/rubber oil line that's apparently a weak point and have the speed limiter removed.
I'll run it down my local private runway and see what it'll do, I'm guessing around 160
Great car by the way, I wish there were more cars like this, smallish/big unstressed engine.
Just read this thread, great car OP!! The current lineups for the domestic manufacturers over there look really interesting. And the more I've found out about JDM models the more I really can't see myself paying money for anything else, especially anything European.
I've got a Toyota Crown Athlete with the 3.5 V6 incoming through Torque-GT (second car I've got through them) and am really excited, apparently there's still a supercharger kit available for it!! Only the wait for it to arrive is the hardship when importing, nothing I looked for in the same budget would be as reliably fast as what I could get from Japan even at today's exchange rate.
I've got a Toyota Crown Athlete with the 3.5 V6 incoming through Torque-GT (second car I've got through them) and am really excited, apparently there's still a supercharger kit available for it!! Only the wait for it to arrive is the hardship when importing, nothing I looked for in the same budget would be as reliably fast as what I could get from Japan even at today's exchange rate.
Small update:
The car has been faultless so I thought I'd be kind to it, treated it to a full service, a sump full of Castrol SLX, all filters and a thorough check by my brilliant local mechanic, he gave it 10/10 and he's a picky bugger.
100+ octane unleaded fuel has recently become available here and as the car is JDM it responds well to filling it with the good stuff, the fuel company claims that 100 octane is the minimum and actually the average is 102 octane.
I'd been using 98 until this stuff came along so it took two fill ups to overcome dilution.
The difference is really noticeable, if I floor it in 2nd gear at 30mph it spins its wheels, it didn't do that before. Also economy improved by almost 2mpg so I'm now averaging just under 33mpg.
Finally, it's Autumn here so I carried out a three day pre winter detail with cleaner wax and two coats protective wax.
It honestly looks like new, not a single blemish or stone chip.
Gotta say I'm rather enjoying this oddball.
The car has been faultless so I thought I'd be kind to it, treated it to a full service, a sump full of Castrol SLX, all filters and a thorough check by my brilliant local mechanic, he gave it 10/10 and he's a picky bugger.
100+ octane unleaded fuel has recently become available here and as the car is JDM it responds well to filling it with the good stuff, the fuel company claims that 100 octane is the minimum and actually the average is 102 octane.
I'd been using 98 until this stuff came along so it took two fill ups to overcome dilution.
The difference is really noticeable, if I floor it in 2nd gear at 30mph it spins its wheels, it didn't do that before. Also economy improved by almost 2mpg so I'm now averaging just under 33mpg.
Finally, it's Autumn here so I carried out a three day pre winter detail with cleaner wax and two coats protective wax.
It honestly looks like new, not a single blemish or stone chip.
Gotta say I'm rather enjoying this oddball.
Having owned some rare, quickish Japanese oddballs myself over the years, including a Sirion Rally 2 and a Corolla TTE Compressor, this is right up my street. My missus currently drives a 1.6 Auris TR which is actually an alright car, the thought of having one with a 3.5 V6 is extremely appealing. This ticks all the boxes for me, a rare Japanese sleeper. Top car, I’m very jealous. 
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